The Jewish Communist Labour Bund (, 'Idishe Kommunistishe Arbeiter-Bund'), or the ''Kombund'' (קאמבונד), was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, formed after a split in the

General Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (), generally called The Bund (, cognate to , ) or the Jewish Labour Bund (), was a Jewish secularism, secular Jewish Socialism, socialist party initially formed in the Russian Empire ...

(''Bund'').

Moisei Rafes Moisei Rafes (3 November 1883 – 1942) was a prominent Jewish politician of the Ukrainian People's Republic as the Bundist representative. After 1919 he was an official of the Bolshevik Party until the rise of Joseph Stalin, when he was impri ...

and were the main leaders of the party. Divisions had simmered within the Bund in Ukraine during the fall of 1918. At a meeting of the Bund branch in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

on 18 February 1919, held on the eve of the Third All-Ukrainian Conference of the Bund, the majority voted for a motion tabled by Rafes whereby the Kiev branch declared itself the Kiev branch of the Jewish Communist Labour Bund. Rafes' motion obtained 135 votes, against 79 votes for a motion reaffirming the affiliation with international

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and the all-Russian Bund party and 27 abstention. At the end of the vote, the Kiev Bund branch had split into two separate party organizations. The Kiev Bundist newspaper '' Folkstsaytung'' became the organ of the ''Kombund'' on 22 February 1919. Around the same time a similar split occurred in the

Ekaterinoslav Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

branch of the Bund (with 130 votes to become part a Kombund, against 108 votes against) in March 1919. The

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

branch of the Bund voted, almost unanimously, to become part of a Kombund. In

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

two separate meetings were held, at the latter a majority voted to become a Kombund. The ''Kombund'' supported Jewish national autonomy. The ''Kombund'' was internally divided on tactics visa-vi the Communist Party. The ''Kombund'' wasn't completely committed to the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

line as such, but supported the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

side in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. At the Third Conference of the

Communist Party (bolsheviks) of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (, КПУ, ''KPU''; ) was the founding and ruling political party of the Ukrainian SSR operated as a republican branch (union republics) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).Pyrih, R. Communist Par ...

, held in March 1919, voted to refuse the ''Kombund'' 'group entry' into the party (101 voted to refuse the ''Kombund'' to merge with the party, 96 votes in favour of a merger). Whilst the CP(b)U recognized the need to collaborate with the Ukrainian Kombund, they refused to recognize the Kombund as a communist party. CP(b)U held that the Kombund was a middle class movement and its members were not given responsibilities in different Soviets. At the local level, the relationship between the Communist Party and the ''Kombund'' was often hostile. In the wake of the Hryhoriev Uprising, the ''Kombund'' was given representation in the

All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee () was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative, administrative, executive controlling state power of Soviet Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) between the sessi ...

. In the midst of the peak of pogroms in central and southern Ukraine, unity talks between the ''Kombund'' and the United Jewish Communist Party (the ''Komfareynikte'') intensified. The

Yevsektsiya A Yevsektsiya ( rus, евсекция, p=jɪfˈsʲektsɨjə; ) was the ethnically Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party and its main institutions. These sections were established in fall of 1918 with consent of Vladimir Lenin to carry Part ...

(the Jewish section of the Communist Party) oversaw meetings between the two parties. In May 1919 the ''Kombund'' held its first party conference in Kiev. At this conference, on 22 May 1919 the ''Kombund'' and the United Jewish Communist Party merged, forming the

Jewish Communist Union in Ukraine The Jewish Communist Union in Ukraine (), also known as ''Komfarband'' (קאמפארבאנד), was a Jewish communist political party in Ukraine. ''Komfarband'' was formed on May 22, 1919, through the merger of the Jewish Communist Labour Bund (''K ...

(''Komfarband'').Gilboa, Jehoshua A.
A Language Silenced: The Suppression of Hebrew Literature and Culture in the Soviet Union
Rutherford .J. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982. p. 282

References

{{Left-wing parties in Ukraine Political parties of minorities in Ukraine Bundism in Europe Jewish anti-Zionism in Ukraine Jewish political parties Jewish Ukrainian history Defunct communist parties in Ukraine Labour parties Political parties of the Russian Revolution 1919 in Ukraine Political parties established in 1919 1919 disestablishments in Ukraine Secular Jewish culture in Ukraine Political parties in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic